Academically Frustrated Kissing
by thatgirlray
Summary: She knew that this was what she needed - a way to release pent up angst and tension that came from certain things other than just academic assignments.


She was going to cry. Not out of sadness or anger (though she did feel that towards herself), but because she was frustrated. Sadly, it was over the fact that she could not seem to jump the mental barrier and just write this damn essay that's due first thing in the morning.

Every time she would think about how much she had left to write, how little she had on her parchment, and how much she had wasted not doing her assignment, her toes would curl, her fingers would clench and her eyes would slightly water. Tears didn't streak her down her face; she didn't want them to, but Lily really needed some sort of release that she can't quite place her finger on.

She prayed that she could find this release and let it bring her to do her damn work.

Whenever she could not concentrate, she usually took a short nap and continued on from there but the last time Lily was close to tears because of schoolwork was before the Transfiguration O.W.L in Fifth Year.

---

_Lily was hunched over the short wooden table across the fire, a fist clenched tightly over the pages of her Transfiguration textbook while her other hand aggressively rubbed her forehead in the hope of forcing herself to focus on the material she needed to know for the test._

_She growled as she sent a glare at the harmless pages of her textbook and mentally damned the thing to hell. With a loud and heavy sigh, Lily sank back into the couch to relax her back and firmly closed her eyes shut. What frustrated her the most was that she felt she had no more time left to cram all the things she need to go over in time for the O.W.L. It was already 2 in the morning, for Merlin's sake!_

_"Alright, Evans?"_

_Lily blinked her eyes open and was startled at the close proximity Potter allowed himself to her face. She scooted over a bit so he wasn't directly in front of her._

_"Fine, Potter."_

_"You don't look it. I was watching you burn your textbook with your eyes," Potter replied. "Seems like you need a personal tutor." He smirked and raised his eyebrow suggestively._

_Lily huffed out an amused yet irritated chuckle. "No, thank you."_

_"But I can help you!", he said as he took a step closer._

_Lily stood up and nudge Potter to the side to pick up her book. "No, thank you," she said again sternly._

_"Alright," Potter said, his hands up in surrender. "Fine by me if you fail."_

_"I am not going to fail!", Lily cried indignantly._

_Potter crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows skeptically._

_"Shut up!", Lily exclaimed as she threw a surprisingly strong punch at his shoulder._

_Potter didn't flinch. "Uh-huh," he said with a nod and that same skeptic look on his face. _

_"I," jab. _

_"Will," smack. _

_"Not," kick. _

_"Fail!", shove. Lily backed Potter into the armchair next to the couch._

_Potter calmly took a seat. "Prove it."_

_"I will!", she shot back as she reclaimed her spot on the couch and slammed the textbook back on the table._

_Lily finally focused on her Transfiguration textbook as Potter silently observed her._

_She received an O on her exam the next day._

_---_

Lily felt her frustration ooze through her veins all the way up to her head. Each time she stared at what she had on her parchment, her mind would burst trying to think of what to write next. It wasn't a case of writers' block either. No, no. Lily knew exactly what she wanted to say, her mind just couldn't focus in and make it happen on paper. She denied having writers' block.

She needed a cure; a treatment to clear her mind and let the words flow right through her and onto her paper. Now how was she going to accomplish that?

Lily lifted her head to the sound of the portrait door being shut loudly.

Startled after looking up, he smiled shyly after spotting her.

"Alright, Evans?", James asked in a polite tone.

Lily scrutinized the boy with her eyes, sizing him up.

With her mind forming the word 'fine' as a good response, her mouth decided that honesty was the best policy at last minute.

"Why aren't you alright, then?", he questioned after her traitor mouth answered.

Her mind groaned being made to think about her unfinished essay and the mental block that hurt so much, her eyes started watering again. "Well...," she started, pausing her voice to let him know he can take a seat in the armchair next to her couch. Lily took a moment to close her eyes and breathe in before answering.

"This Merlin forsaking essay is just so ridiculously easy that it is so much more difficult to write!", Lily aggressively described as her hand smack the paper on the table and damned the thing to shrivel up and die.

"I can see that," James attempted to reply calmly to not anger her more as he watched her massage her throbbing hand that punished her parchment.

Lily knew then what she needed. She needed to clear her mind, perhaps to make way so then words can easily flow to the parchment. Determined emerald eyes locked onto confused hazel eyes. Next thing Lily knew, she stood up, sauntered over to James' chair and towered over the poor boy by placing her palms on either side of the occupied armchair.

"Hi," James breathed as he watched Lily's face coming dangerously close to his and her eyes burning into his skull. Hazel eyes were filled with confusion, intimidation, and anxiety. She wasn't touching him but he could feel the warmth of her hands and arms that were above his on the armchair.

Lily only gave him a cheshire grin and only when her lips softly touched his, did her heart skip a beat. She knew that this was what she needed - a way to release pent up angst and tension that came from _certain_ things other than just academic assignments. _Two birds with one stone,_ Lily thought as she grinned into the kiss, adding a bit more pressure and passion all at once. Slowly, with lips still locked with his, Lily eased her knees over each of James' thighs and gently sat on his lap.

James felt Lily's hands roam over the tense length of his arms that clenched over the armchair's fabric. The feel of her soft lips over his eased his mind, melting his heart but at the same time increasing his heart rate. The _too close_ proximity of all of her overwhelmed him - he could smell her wonderful hair, taste her sweet breath, and let's not to mention that she was just all over his body it seemed like when really she was just sitting on his lap! James felt himself unable to breathe when Lily gently eased her lips away from his and sat back. His eyes were still closed when her weight lifted off his lap.

By the time he unwilling opened his eyes to the real world, Lily was seated back at her original spot on the couch scribbling away furiously on her parchment.

Lily finally focused on her essay as Potter silently observed her.

She received high marks on her written assignment the next day and a date to the Hogsmeade weekend next week.


End file.
